SCI Canada Announces 2010 Award Winners

The Canada International Group is proud to announce the winners of four of its awards given in recognition of major achievement in service, industry and leadership. The awards will be presented at the 2010 SCI Canada Annual Awards Ceremony and Dinner to be held on Thursday, 25 March 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

'These awards acknowledge outstanding contributions to development and implementation of strategies that have resulted in the strengthening of Canadian industry, academic, or research institutions in the field of chemistry,' said SCI Awards Chair and GKCI President Graham Knowles. Recipients are usually key industry managers or owners, or Canadian academics with a clear industry connection, who have had strategic influence on the Canadian chemical industry, or those who through their leadership have strengthened key institutions relied upon by Canadian industry.

Canada Medal: David Dolphin, OC

This award is presented for outstanding service to a Canadian industry that is based on chemistry for its processes and/or services.

David Dolphin, OC, FCIC, is recognised worldwide for his work in the biopharmaceutical industry, particularly related to macrocyclic systems, such as porphyrins, and to photodynamic therapy. As the VP Technology Development at Quadra Logic Technologies (QLT) he developed and commercialised discoveries made at the University of British Columbia in the fields of Age Related Macular Degeneration, cancer and other debilitating diseases. Visudyne®, approved in over 75 countries, is the world's most widely used ophthalmic drug and has saved the vision of more than 1,000,000 people since 2000. Professor Dolphin has given significantly of his time in support of his profession and is currently Chair of the Chemical Institute of Canada.

International Award: Gerry Sullivan

This award is given to acknowledge outstanding service to an industry that is based on chemistry for its processes and/or services, in the international sphere.

Gerald R Sullivan for three decades of academic and entrepreneurial accomplishments relating to the development and commercialisation of real-time control, optimisation and management decision tools with application to the global petro-chemical industry. Dr Sullivan founded four companies, Dantec whose grain dryer controllers conserved energy and increased the quality of corn and rice dryers world wide, Open Options and Priiva, consulting companies that use sophisticated game theory programs to arrive at win-win solutions to business disputes and more recently Energent, which uses a unique web-based software program to monitor and display energy usages in various parts of a manufacturing operation allowing the client to observe trends and select economic options leading to optimised energy consumption.

Kalev Pugi Award: Elizabeth Edwards

The award is presented to an individual or a team for specific R&D projects, performed during the previous 10-15 years, that embody the qualities of creativity and determination, good experimental design and project management, and which have had a significant beneficial impact on the sponsoring company or on society.

Elizabeth Edwards has achieved international recognition for her pioneering research on how biological processes affect pollutants in the environment. In particular, she has made two major contributions to the field. The first deals with anaerobic biodegradation of monoaromatic hydrocarbons in groundwater. Dr Edwards' research was largely responsible for disproving the belief that hydrocarbons such as benzene could not be biologically degraded under anaerobic conditions. Her second major contribution is the development of a culture called 'KB-1', dominated by unusual chlororespiring bacteria called 'Dehalococcoides', for anaerobic biological reductive dechlorination of chlorinated solvents; an effective low-cost solution for clean-up of these pervasive pollutants that is now a commercial success. Elizabeth is a champion of interdisciplinary collaboration and an enthusiastic mentor for graduate students.

Purvis Memorial Award: Joe Schwarcz

This award is given for major contribution to development and implementation of strategies, which have resulted in the strengthening of Canadian industry or academic or research institutions in the field of chemistry.

Joe Schwarcz is Director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society, an office dedicated to demystifying science for the public, the media and students. Joe has developed practical chemistry courses, with an emphasis on health issues and on applications of chemistry to everyday life. His informative and entertaining lectures deal with many topics ranging from the chemistry of foods and the chemistry of love to the science of ageing. Through his many books and articles and his television and radio appearances he captivates audiences with his explanations of the mysteries of chemistry. 'Dr Joe' is an outstanding educator, an engaging communicator and an enthusiastic spokesperson for chemistry as a science. He will be the keynote speaker at the Awards Dinner.

Julia Levy Award: Paul Santerre

The Julia Levy award recognises successful commercialisation of innovation in Canada, in the field of Bio-medical Science and Engineering, with a particular focus on the synergistic relationship between university and business.

Paul Santerre will receive the Julia Levy Award, which focuses on commercialisation of biomedical science and engineering innovation. Dr Santerre's knowledge of the body's inflammatory systems allowed him to program surface biocompatibility into raw plastic resins, well before medical device production. This has given the University of Toronto spin-off company - Interface Biologics Inc (IBI), which he co-founded in 2001 - three core platform technologies and a full product development plate, including the area of drug delivery to control device related infections and blood contacting devices to treat vascular disease. One of these technologies has recently led to a revenue generating licence deal for anti-clotting peripherally inserted central catheters. Dr Santerre is currently Director of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, and remains the chief scientific officer of IBI.

For more information, contact: Lucie Frigon, Communications Manager, Chemical Institute of Canada, lfrigon@cheminst.ca, T. 613-232-6252, ext. 240

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